SeaQuest DSV

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Template:Lowercase Template:Infobox television seaQuest DSV was an American science fiction television series created by Rockne S. O'Bannon. It originally aired on NBC between 1993 and 1996. In its final season, it was renamed seaQuest 2032. Set in "The Near Future", seaQuest originally mixed high drama with realistic scientific fact. It starred Roy Scheider (best known for his role as Police Chief Brody in Jaws) as Nathan Bridger, captain of the eponymous high-tech submarine seaQuest DSV 4600.

The series had a troubled beginning. Without the interest of Steven Spielberg, who acted as an executive producer, it might never have made it to the screen at all. Filming of the first season was marked by producer disputes, changes at the helm (on- and off-screen), and even an earthquake. On its debut, it was panned by the critics, who dubbed it "Voyage to the Bottom of the Ratings" (in reference to a similar 1960s TV series, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea), and criticised everything from the characterisation of the show's female characters to Darwin, the show's dolphin. The show was nonetheless sufficiently popular to last three seasons.

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Plot overview

The series follows the adventures of the high-tech submarine seaQuest operated by the United Earth Oceans organization (UEO), a global federation of nations, similar to the United Nations, which was created following a major global conflict that occurred circa 2010. The seaQuest was built by NORPAC (a military organization mentioned in the pilot) and given to the UEO after its creation. The storyline begins in the year 2018, after mankind has exhausted almost all natural resources, except for the ones on the ocean floor. Many new colonies have been established there and it's the job of the seaQuest and its crew to protect them from hostile nonaligned nations and to aid in mediating disputes.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
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Changes after season 1

Image:Seaquest3.jpg In the first season finale, the seaQuest was sacrificed by Bridger to prevent an ecological disaster, and for a short time it was not known if the show would be renewed for another season. When it was decided the show would return, NBC and Universal used this opportunity to tinker with the show's format. Both Royce D. Applegate and John D'Aquino were fired by NBC as the network wanted a younger cast for the show's second year (D'Aquino subsequently returned for a guest appearance in the third season). Stacy Haiduk, who was not happy with her character's development, informed producers she did not wish to return if the show went on to a second season. Stephanie Beacham, who as Dr. Kristin Westphalen was one of the first season's strongest characters, had been asked back for the second year, contrary to popular rumour; however, she quit when it was decided the show would move production from Los Angeles to Florida. (The move also changed the show's location from Pearl Harbor, to New Cape Quest) Beacham also blamed poor writing and continued fighting between the network and the show's producers as major reasons why she did not return. The series had suffered in the ratings, pitted as it was against Lois and Clark.

The studio wanted more sci-fi oriented episodes, a direction moved towards at the end of season one, when seaQuest encountered a million-year-old alien ship buried in the ocean floor. The marine trivia presentations during the credits by oceanographer Bob Ballard were now presented by the principal cast of the show. These changes did attract a new audience, but many of the original fans of the first season were unhappy at the show's change from "sci-fact" to "sci-fi" and abandoned the show.

By the end of season two, seaQuest DSV was again suffering, partly attributed to a decrease in the quality of the writing. The season's heavily sci-fi climax, "Splashdown", saw the crew and the boat transported to another planet, where the majority of them died. (Or so it seemed.) The threat of cancellation loomed large but Universal gave it one more chance.

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Changes after season 2

Another revamp resulted in the third season, the series now called seaQuest 2032. Roy Scheider had been vocal in his anger of the show's new direction and wanted out. However, Scheider had a contract with the network so it was decided that Bridger would make several appearances throughout the season. Rosalind Allen was fired as her character, Dr. Wendy Smith, proved to be very unpopular amongst fans (Dr. Smith, introduced in season 2, was essentially seen as a weak mixture of two female characters from Star Trek: The Next Generation; the attractive doctor who is the captain's unrequited love interest, and the psychic who can only sense blatantly obvious emotions - indeed, one of Smith's lines in her first appearance was Marina Sirtis' infamous, "I sense he's hiding something, captain!" as a shifty-eyed pirate onscreen clearly lies through his teeth). Marco Sanchez was also fired after NBC decided it wanted the principal cast number dropped from 10 to 8. Edward Kerr was fired for the same reason as Sanchez, however, he was asked to play his character for the first 5 episodes so they could kill him off for dramatic effect. The marine trivia presentations at the end of the show were cut. The seaQuest reappeared, its crew intact, ten years after their abduction at the end of season two. Captain Bridger stepped down to raise his grandson (although Scheider appeared in two further episodes of the season), and Michael Ironside entered the fray as the more militaristic Oliver Hudson, as the UEO faced the threat of the Macronesian Alliance. Much darker than the previous series, some fans felt that seaQuest had finally found its feet. However, Universal and NBC disagreed, and cancelled the series after 13 episodes.

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DVD release

Fans of seaQuest have campaigned for the release of the series on DVD. Universal Studios, which owns the distribution rights to the series, had at one time stated that it had no plans to release the show on DVD.

Over the past few years, illegal bootleg recordings of the series have been sold on eBay and other online auction sites in VCD and DVD format.

In 2005 Universal announced that the first season of seaQuest would be released on DVD on December 26 2005 along with a week long marathon of the show on the SciFi channel. Universal credited the fans with changing their minds about a DVD release. However, some also credit the successful sales of bootleg copies of the series.

The DVD release included numerous deleted scenes as well as alternate versions of broadcast scenes.

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Trivia

  • The show's first season theme song was nominated for an Emmy Award, and in 2000 was named the 48th best theme song of all time by TV Guide.
  • Two of the show's cast members died in 2003. Royce D. Applegate (Chief Manilow Crocker) died in a New Year's Day house fire, and Jonathan Brandis (Lucas Wolenczak) committed suicide in November.
  • Edward Kerr's character, Lieutenant James Brody, was named after Police Chief Martin Brody, played by castmate Roy Scheider, in Jaws.
  • Unsure if the show would be picked up for another season upon the conclusion of the first, the writers decided to destroy the seaQuest in the first season finale; had the show been cancelled, it would have ended with a note of finality, and had it been picked up, another seaQuest could have been built. The latter eventually came to pass. Also, had the show been picked up for a second season, it would have moved production from California to Florida. Since the existing sets were too big to cost-effectively move, it was easier to just destroy them and rebuild.
  • Roy Scheider had not been pleased with the direction of the show in the second season (moving more away from science-fact and towards heavy science-fiction), and had been vocal about his displeasure. Although he had a contract with NBC, Scheider was allowed to bow out in the third season, only required to reappear occasionally as a recurring character.
  • Michael Ironside had considerable input as to the direction of the show during his season.
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Cast

Additionally, seaQuest DSV employed a significant amount of guest stars familiar with the sci-fi genre, many of whom would go on to star in other shows. Notable guest stars included William Shatner (Captain Kirk), Charlton Heston (star of The Ten Commandments, Planet of the Apes and other classic 1960s-70s SF films), Tim Russ (later Tuvok in Star Trek: Voyager), Seth Green (later Scott Evil in the Austin Powers films and Chris Griffin on Family Guy), Kent McCord (Officer Jim Reed of Adam-12, Captain Troy of Galactica 1980, Unger in Airplane II: The Sequel, and later Jack Crichton of O'Bannon's Farscape), W. Morgan Sheppard (numerous appearances in Star Trek, Max Headroom and Babylon 5), and Mark Hamill of Star Wars fame. Additionally, Richard Herd is also notable for the recurring role of Admiral Owen Paris on the aforementioned Star Trek: Voyager.

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Episodes

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Season 1 (1993-1994)

  1. To Be or Not to Be (90 min)
  2. The Devil's Window
  3. Treasures of the Mind
  4. Games
  5. Treasure of the Tonga Trench
  6. Brothers and Sisters
  7. Give Me Liberte
  8. Knight of Shadows
  9. Bad Water
  10. The Regulator
  11. seaWest
  12. Photon Bullet
  13. Better Than Martians
  14. Nothing But the Truth
  15. Greed for a Pirate's Dream
  16. Whale Song
  17. The Stinger
  18. Hide and Seek
  19. The Last Lap at Luxury
  20. Abalon
  21. Such Great Patience
  22. The Good Death
  23. Higher Power
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Season 2 (1994-1995)

  1. Daggers (90 min)
  2. The Fear That Follows
  3. Sympathy for the Deep
  4. Vapors
  5. Playtime
  6. The Sincerest Form of Flattery
  7. By Any Other Name
  8. When We Dead Awaken
  9. Special Delivery
  10. Dead End
  11. Meltdown
  12. Lostland
  13. And Everthing Nice
  14. Dream Weaver
  15. Alone
  16. Watergate
  17. Something in the Air
  18. Dagger Redux
  19. Blindsided
  20. The Siamese Dream
  21. Splashdown
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Season 3 (1995-1996)

  1. Brave New World
  2. In the Company of Ice and Profit
  3. Smoke on the Water
  4. Destination Terminal
  5. Chains of Command
  6. SpinDrift
  7. Equilibrium
  8. Resurrection
  9. Good Soldiers
  10. Second Chance
  11. Brainlock
  12. Reunion
  13. Weapons of War

Note: episodes were not always shown in production order, as a result, certain consequences of episodes do not carry over to the next. For example, the episode "The Stinger" shows Admiral Noyce as the Secretary General of the UEO, a position he obtains in "The Last Lap at Luxury." Similarily, the episode "Blindsided" shows the seaQuest still on Earth, even though it had been taken to Hyperion and destroyed in "Splashdown." Additionally, the episode "Brainlock" shows Lieutenant Brody still alive, even though he died in "SpinDrift."

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"Watergate" song lyrics

This song was performed in the second season episode "Watergate" and was performed by guest star Dawn Robinson.

To ease her grief with comfort,
To say something,
To turn her hurt and pain away,
Sighs often,
His heart being moved by his great love, most deeply,
And still the Gods give orders,
He obeys them,
He goes back to his fleet,
To his fleet.
By night, by day, the portals of darkness stand open,
It is easy by descending,
Down to all the news,
His heart being moved by his great love, most deeply,
And still the Gods give orders,
He obeys them,
He goes back to his fleet,
To his fleet.

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External links

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Official

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Unofficial

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